Having picked up just two points from our last three games, it’s probably fair to stay that Liam Rosenior is having his first little wobble as Chelsea head coach. Not exactly great timing, at the start of a season-defining stretch of games, both domestically and in Europe!
That said, the issues that have come to the fore over these last few games are hardly new. We remain an unfocused, often unserious bunch, with a penchant for snatching defeats and draws from the jaws of victory, often by way of set
pieces, while collecting random red cards along the way. We’re well in with a chance of breaking the Premier League record for most red cards in a season — the record is 9; we have 7 not including the one for former head coach Enzo Maresca. At least we’re still making history! (We already own the most yellow cards record from a couple seasons ago.)
And yet, a top-five finish is still also on the table. Manchester United may have suddenly turned into a good team, but neither Villa nor Liverpool have been consistently good enough to guarantee themselves a spot. Two spots are up for grabs: we just have to not be the odd team out (Brentford could complicate things as well of course).
That makes tonight’s clash at Villa Park a classic “six-pointer”. Win and we move back to fourth (thanks to Wolves beating Liverpool, amusingly enough). Lose and we may just end up with a watching brief for next year’s Champions League. Not much money in that!
Date / Time: Wednesday, March 4, 19.30 GMT; 2:30pm EST; 1am IST (next day)
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
Referee: Jarred Gillett (on pitch); James Bell (VAR)
Forecast: A cool night at end of a nice day
On TV: TNT Sports 3 (UK); Universo (USA); none (India); elsewhere
Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Peacock (USA); JioHotstar (India)
Aston Villa team news: Villa had been in the top four for much of the season, but after their 2-1 win at Bridge in late December, the last couple months have not gone quite as swimmingly. They’ve won just three of their last ten league games; and just one of their last four at home.
January arrivals Douglas Luiz (on loan from Juventus), Alysson, and Tammy Abraham (there’s a familiar face!) have not quite had the intended effect of righting their ship, though Tammy did score a couple weeks ago and will certainly be up for doing so against his childhood club as well. (Same goes for Ollie Watkins, who absolutely loves playing against us.)
John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Harvey Elliott, and Boubacar Kamara continue to miss time with various long(er)-term injuries.
Chelsea team news: We certainly have our fair share of injuries to deal with as well — as usual — as the likes of Marc Cucurella and Estêvão remain out, alongside the usual suspects in Levi Colwill, Dário Essugo, and Jamie Gittens. On the plus side, Roméo Lavia made his return to competitive action over the weekend and could be set for a larger role here very soon.
Meanwhile, just as Wesley Fofana returns from suspension, Pedro Neto goes out for a breather, leaving us a bit light at winger. Alejandro Garnacho: it’s your time to shine!
Previously: We’ve lost two in a row against Villa, including this same exact fixture last season. But Villa park has been a pretty happy place for us overall in recent years.
